diff --git a/src/wmtk/MultiMeshManager.cpp b/src/wmtk/MultiMeshManager.cpp
index 0d70448e76..15152ae6e1 100644
--- a/src/wmtk/MultiMeshManager.cpp
+++ b/src/wmtk/MultiMeshManager.cpp
@@ -192,19 +192,32 @@ std::vector<Tuple> MultiMeshManager::map_tuples(
 
     // bieng lazy about how i set cur_mesh to nullptr above - could simplify the loop to optimize
     cur_mesh = &get_root_mesh(other_mesh);
+
+
+    // note that (cur_mesh, tuples) always match (i.e tuples are tuples from cur_mesh)
     std::vector<Tuple> tuples;
+    tuples.emplace_back(cur_tuple);
+
     for (auto it = other_id.rbegin(); it != other_id.rend(); ++it) {
+        // get the select ID from the child map
         long child_index = *it;
-        std::vector<Tuple> new_tuples;
         const ChildData& cd = cur_mesh->m_multi_mesh_manager.m_children.at(child_index);
+
+        // for every tuple we have try to collect all versions
+        std::vector<Tuple> new_tuples;
         for (const Tuple& t : tuples) {
+            // get new tuples for every version that exists
             std::vector<Tuple> n =
                 cur_mesh->m_multi_mesh_manager.map_to_child_tuples(*cur_mesh, cd, Simplex(pt, t));
+            // append to teh current set of new tuples
             new_tuples.insert(new_tuples.end(), n.begin(), n.end());
         }
+        // update teh (mesh,tuples) pair
         tuples = std::move(new_tuples);
         cur_mesh = cd.mesh.get();
-        assert(cur_mesh->absolute_multi_mesh_id() == child_index);
+
+        // the front id of the current mesh should be the child index from this iteration
+        assert(cur_mesh->m_multi_mesh_manager.m_child_id == child_index);
     }
 
     // visitor.map(equivalent_tuples, my_simplex.primitive_type());
@@ -421,10 +434,10 @@ std::vector<std::array<Tuple, 2>> MultiMeshManager::same_simplex_dimension_surje
     for (long index = 0; index < size; ++index) {
         const Tuple ct = child.tuple_from_id(primitive_type, index);
         const Tuple pt = parent.tuple_from_id(primitive_type, parent_simplices.at(index));
-        if (parent_flag_accessor.const_scalar_attribute(pt) & 1 == 0) {
+        if ((parent_flag_accessor.const_scalar_attribute(pt) & 1) == 0) {
             continue;
         }
-        if (child_flag_accessor.const_scalar_attribute(pt) & 1 == 0) {
+        if ((child_flag_accessor.const_scalar_attribute(pt) & 1) == 0) {
             continue;
         }
 
diff --git a/src/wmtk/MultiMeshManager.hpp b/src/wmtk/MultiMeshManager.hpp
index ad5b3d98dd..6eaf910d94 100644
--- a/src/wmtk/MultiMeshManager.hpp
+++ b/src/wmtk/MultiMeshManager.hpp
@@ -147,6 +147,8 @@ class MultiMeshManager
         const ConstAccessor<long>& source_to_target_map_accessor,
         const Tuple& source_tuple);
 
+    const std::vector<ChildData>& children() const { return m_children; }
+
 private:
     // this is defined internally but is preferablly invoked through the multimesh free function
     static std::vector<std::array<Tuple, 2>> same_simplex_dimension_surjection(
diff --git a/tests/test_multi_mesh.cpp b/tests/test_multi_mesh.cpp
index d84a67c779..9bc96ac2de 100644
--- a/tests/test_multi_mesh.cpp
+++ b/tests/test_multi_mesh.cpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include <catch2/catch_test_macros.hpp>
 
 #include <wmtk/TriMeshOperationExecutor.hpp>
+#include <wmtk/multimesh/same_simplex_dimension_surjection.hpp>
 #include "tools/DEBUG_TriMesh.hpp"
 #include "tools/TriMesh_examples.hpp"
 
@@ -20,17 +21,17 @@ TEST_CASE("test_register_child_mesh", "[multimesh][2D]")
 {
     DEBUG_TriMesh parent = two_neighbors();
     std::shared_ptr<DEBUG_TriMesh> child0_ptr = std::make_shared<DEBUG_TriMesh>(single_triangle());
-    std::vector<long> child0_map = {0};
+    auto child0_map = multimesh::same_simplex_dimension_surjection(*parent, *child0_ptr, {0});
     std::shared_ptr<DEBUG_TriMesh> child1_ptr = std::make_shared<DEBUG_TriMesh>(one_ear());
-    std::vector<long> child1_map = {0, 1};
+    auto child1_map = multimesh::same_simplex_dimension_surjection(*parent, *child1_ptr, {0, 1});
 
     parent.register_child_mesh(child0_ptr, child0_map);
     parent.register_child_mesh(child1_ptr, child1_map);
 
     const auto& p_mul_manager = parent.multi_mesh_manager();
-    REQUIRE(p_mul_manager.child_meshes.size() == 2);
-    REQUIRE(p_mul_manager.child_meshes[0] == child0_ptr);
-    REQUIRE(p_mul_manager.child_meshes[1] == child1_ptr);
+    REQUIRE(p_mul_manager.m_children.size() == 2);
+    REQUIRE(p_mul_manager.m_children[0] == child0_ptr);
+    REQUIRE(p_mul_manager.m_children[1] == child1_ptr);
 
     auto [tuple1, tuple2] = multimesh::utils::read_tuple_map_attribute_slow(
         p_mul_manager.map_to_child_handles[0],