by Kai Strand –
Thud. Thud.
Brent hung his head over the edge of the bed and looked upside down at his sister sitting at the desk. She blinked each time his foot hit the wall. He snickered.
Thud. Thud.
“Brent, I’m trying to do my homework. Please stop,” Cindy said.
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud.
“Brent, I said stop!” Cindy yelled. “Mom! Brent won’t stop kicking the wall.”
Mom stepped into the room. “Brent, why are you always pushing your sister’s buttons?”
Brent stopped kicking. He scanned his sister’s shirt.
“She’s not wearing any buttons,” he said.
“That’s not what I mean, Brent. Now stop bothering your sister.”
******
The next day at the grocery store Brent snatched a bag of potato chips from the shelf as they passed and dropped it into the cart.
“Put that back please,” Mom said. “I’ve asked you to stop taking things off the shelves.”
“But I’m hungry. I want a snack,” Brent grumbled. He shoved the bag onto the shelf.
“That’s not where it belongs.” Mom’s voice sounded like a rubber band stretched taught.
Brent jumped off the end of the cart and trudged back toward the shelf.
“Hurry up,” Mom said.
At the checkout counter, Brent slipped a candy bar next to the other groceries.
Mom sighed. “Brent, what did I say? Stop trying to sneak things in with my purchase.”
“Awww, Mom, just one candy bar. Pleeease?” He gave her his biggest smile.
“Put. It. Back.”
Brent knew Mom was mad when she emphasized the last letter of each word. He grunted and grabbed the candy bar off the conveyor belt.
The cashier grinned at him while she scanned items. “Ooo, someone knows how to push his mom’s buttons.”
Brent peered at the machine his mom had swiped a plastic card through. “I didn’t push any buttons, honest!”
“Just stand with the cart, Brent,” Mom said in a tired voice.
******
Near the end of the school day Miss Finet’s kindergarten class sat on the round rug for share-bear time.
“Class, please give Tamara your attention. She has clues for you to guess the item she is sharing,” Miss Finet said.
Tamara gave her first clue.
Suzi hissed at Brent, “Stop touching me.”
Brent pulled her shoelace with a grin on his face. When he pulled it slowly it slithered like a white snake.
“Brent, leave me alone!” Suzi said a little louder.
Tamara gave her second clue.
Brent tugged Suzi’s shoelace, imagining the snake striking out at an unsuspecting victim. The shoe untied completely.
“Miss Finet!” Suzi yelled. “Brent untied my shoe.”
Miss Finet leveled a glare over the rim of her glasses.“Brent, why do you insist on pushing all the wrong buttons? Go sit at the table.”
Sticking his bottom lip out and tromping to the table at the back of the room. What buttons is Miss Finet talking about and why is everyone saying I’m always pushing them? he wondered. Brent fell into a chair and crossed his arms over his chest.
After sharing, the kids scurried to their seats to finish cleaning up before the end of the day. Miss Finet sat down next to Brent.
“Brent, do you know what you did wrong?” she asked.
“No, Miss Finet. You said I was pushing buttons, but I untied Suzi’s shoe.”
“Brent,” Miss Finet said with a smile, “‘pushing buttons’ is a phrase people use when someone is doing something they know bothers someone else.”
Brent remembered how funny he thought it was when the thudding noises made his sister blink. “So when Mom said I was pushing Cindy’s buttons, she meant that I was bothering her?”
“What were you doing at the time?” Miss Finet asked.
“Kicking the wall.”
“And that bothered Cindy?” Miss Finet asked.
“Yes,” Brent said. “But it was funny.”
“To you, maybe, but what if Cindy poked you in the belly button? Would you like that?” Miss Finet asked.
Brent laughed when he thought about it. “Sure, it would make me laugh.”
“What if Cindy kept poking you because she thought it would be fun to see you get mad?”
“Just like I did to her,” Brent said. He looked over at Suzi and felt bad for making her mad. “I’m sorry, Miss Finet.”
“If you bother someone and they ask you to stop, what will you do?”
“I’ll stop so I don’t annoy them,” Brent said.
“Very good, Brent. Now, get your stuff and line up with the other kids.”
On the bus ride home, Brent sat next to Suzi.
“I’m sorry I was pushing your buttons, Suzi,” Brent said.
Suzi frowned down at her shirt and pants.
“I’m not wearing buttons,” she said.
Brent giggled and explained what he meant.
Suzi laughed too. She reached into her backpack and said, “I have some buttons we can push.” She handed Brent a toy cellular phone.
“Cool, I’m going to call China!” said Brent.
They pushed buttons all the way home and no one got mad.
the end.
Question Time
1. What did Brent do to annoy his sister?
2. What did he do at the grocery store?
3. Why was Brent confused?
4. What does it mean to push someone’s buttons?
