Here's a hypothetical question that could have arisen on the House floor Tuesday.

Member of Congress: Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Speaker Pro Tempore: The gentleman will state it.

Member of Congress: Is it within the rules of decorum for the gentleman from pre-school to play with Matchbox cars in the aisle of the House chamber?

Apparently it was.

All seemed to be in order as lawmakers lugged their offspring and grandchildren to the House chamber to see the pomp and circumstance of the opening day of the 111th Congress.

Dora the Explorer dolls were in order. As were Thomas the Tank Engine books, Transformers, plastic balls and Teddy Bears. Lawmakers ushered or carried their kids into the House chamber as they elected Nancy Pelosi speaker and cast their first votes of the new year.

Kids were everywhere. As were toys and games. After all, isn't the House just a grown-up version of Bakugan Battle Brawlers anyway?

In all of my time covering Capitol Hill, I had before never heard a member of Congress use the terms "supplemental appropriations bill" and "sippy cup" in the same conversation.

Babies cried in the back of the chamber as the House tallied up the votes for speaker. A three-year-old sitting near Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla., flung both of his legs over the armrest of a chair and ignored the proceedings, playing instead with a stuffed raccoon toy.

When it came time for Pelosi to take the oath of office, she invited all the children in the chamber to join her on the dais.

"Come on kids!" Pelosi called, like an after school TV host.

Pelosi's grandchildren joined her too, including two-year-old grandson Paul. At one point, Paul tried to distract Pelosi with a choo-choo he carried with him. Paul's mother Alexandra Pelosi says he calls his grandmother "Mimi." No word if inside the House chamber Madam Speaker required Paul to call her "Mimi Speaker."

Rep. Tom Rooney's boys were among the last kids to approach the dais (easily identifiable as they all wore shirts reading "Rooney" on the back). So, boys being boys, Team Rooney unceremoniously climbed over the first row of desks on the dais like they were fording playground equipment.

"The House will be called to order for all of the American children," Pelosi said. "And now I'm going to administer the oath of office to your parents."

Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., cradled her infant son Cole on her shoulder as she uttered the oath. The four sons of Rep. Frank Kratovil, D-Md., stood attentively at their father's side. Texas Rep. Michael McCaul's four daughters were near the front, all dressed the same in black tops and long, red skirts.

At the end, one of California Rep. Barbara Lee's toddler granddaughters managed to fall off the Speaker's chair. Pelosi herself scooped the tot up off the floor and handed her back to Lee.

But the ceremony proved to be too long for many of the youngsters and they squirmed in their seats.

Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling's four-year-old son Travis kept asking his dad if "it was time to go."

Outside the chamber, Hensarling reported that Travis wasn't on his "A Game." However, the Congressman indicated that six-year-old Claire did very well.

But all was forgotten when Hensarling produced a bag of M&M's from his pocket. Both Travis and Claire's hands instantly shot up.

Hensarling remarked that maybe the House whips ought to keep M&M's around to persuade reluctant lawmakers to vote a certain way on tough issues.

Sweets were definitely an enticement for the kids. Washington Rep. Brian Baird's twin, three-year-old boys begged to go into the Democratic cloakroom. Baird said his boys learned long ago that they keep a freezer full of ice cream in the cloakroom.

"Just stick with me for a minute," Baird begged his sons.

Of course Tuesday was a school day. So many kids were cutting class. But the children of Rep. Walt Minnick, D-Ind., know that in politics, the best offense is a good defense. Dixon and Denali Minnick brought with them hand-written notes asking their teachers for excused absences.

The signers of the notes? Reps. Howard Berman, Earl Blumenauer, Howard Berman, George Miller, Jim Cooper, Steve Cohen and Mike Simpson.

And of course, their Dad.

Chad Pergram covers Congress for FOX News. He's won an Edward R. Murrow Award and the Joan Barone Award for his reporting on Capitol Hill.