Jamie climbed up onto one of the stools, watching his father putter around the kitchen. He knew, even though he was still pretty young, that the plate in front of him was hardly full, but if he got upset, his dad would just get upset in turn, and the vicious cycle just continued.
So he smiled at his dad instead, and picked up the cracker with peanut butter on it. "It's OK, Dad," he said, biting it in half. "Do we have any milk, or anything?"