by Matthew Hay Brown

The Capitol press corps really is getting younger.

When Nancy Pelosi was installed last year as the first woman speaker of the House, she called on the children and grandchildren of her congressional colleagues to join her at the podium. Today, she observed Bring Your Child to Work Day by inviting reporters to bring their offspring to her weekly question-and-answer session.

It turned out to be an adorable way to cut the press conference short.

After taking a half-dozen questions from the grownups, Pelosi opened the floor to the kids, who grilled her with: "I need to know if you like being Speaker at all?" ("It's fabulous.") And "Who do you like: The Giants, the Orioles or the Nats?" ("I root for all of them, depending on who they play against.")

There were some substantive questions. The boy who asked about her baseball allegiances also wanted to know whether she supported statehood for Puerto Rico ("the status of Puerto Rico is up to the people of Puerto Rico"). A girl asked why the Anacostia River is still so dirty ("I'm going to go find out").

And there were, frankly, a couple of plants.

"What would you do to improve Medicaid if the moratorium that the House approved yesterday became law?" one girl read from a reporter's notepad, to general laughter.

"What can you do to help the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act since the Senate has failed to act?" another asked.

By the end of the press conference, the score was kids, 12 questions -- 13, if you count "Could I have your autograph?" -- parents, six.

"Seeing you just reminds me -- not that I need a reminder -- but inspires me about our responsibility here, that everything we do has to be about the children," Pelosi said. "When they ask me what are the three most important issues in the Congress, I always say the same thing: Our children, our children, our children."