diff --git a/spec/mongoid/tree_spec.rb b/spec/mongoid/tree_spec.rb
index fed4a69..eb083d8 100644
--- a/spec/mongoid/tree_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/mongoid/tree_spec.rb
@@ -1,10 +1,5 @@
 require 'spec_helper'
 
-class Node
-  include Mongoid::Document
-  include Mongoid::Tree
-end
-
 describe Mongoid::Tree do
   
   it "should reference many children as inverse of parent" do
@@ -33,43 +28,53 @@ class Node
   
   describe 'when saved' do
     
+    before(:each) do
+      setup_tree <<-ENDTREE
+        - root:
+          - child:
+            - subchild:
+              - subsubchild
+        - other_root:
+          - other_child
+      ENDTREE
+    end
+    
+    it "should set the child's parent_id when added to parent's children" do
+      root = Node.create; child = Node.create
+      root.children << child
+      child.parent.should == root
+      child.parent_id.should == root.id
+    end
+    
+    it "should set the child's parent_id parent is set on child" do
+      root = Node.create; child = Node.create
+      child.parent = root
+      child.parent.should == root
+      child.parent_id.should == root.id
+    end
+    
     it "should rebuild its parent_ids" do
-      root = Node.create; child = Node.create; subchild = Node.create
+      root = Node.create; child = Node.create
       root.children << child
-      child.children << subchild # Mongoid implicitly saves
-      subchild.parent_ids.should == [root.id, child.id]
+      child.parent_ids.should == [root.id]
     end
   
     it "should rebuild its children's parent_ids when its own parent_ids changed" do
-      root = Node.create; child = Node.create; subchild = Node.create; new_root = Node.create
-      root.children << child
-      child.children << subchild
-    
-      new_root.children << child
-    
-      subchild.reload
-      subchild.parent_ids.should == [new_root.id, child.id]
+      other_root = node(:other_root); child = node(:child); subchild = node(:subchild);
+      other_root.children << child
+      subchild.reload # To get the updated version
+      subchild.parent_ids.should == [other_root.id, child.id]
     end
   
     it "should correctly rebuild its descendants' parent_ids when moved into an other subtree" do
-      root = Node.create; child = Node.create; subchild = Node.create; subsubchild = Node.create
-      new_root = Node.create; new_child = Node.create
-    
-      root.children << child 
-      child.children << subchild
-      subchild.children << subsubchild
-  
-      subsubchild.parent_ids.should == [root.id, child.id, subchild.id]
-    
-      new_root.children << new_child
-      new_child.children << subchild
+      subchild = node(:subchild); subsubchild = node(:subsubchild); other_child = node(:other_child)
+      other_child.children << subchild
       subsubchild.reload
-      subsubchild.parent_ids.should == [new_root.id, new_child.id, subchild.id]
+      subsubchild.parent_ids.should == [node(:other_root).id, other_child.id, subchild.id]
     end
   
     it "should not rebuild its children's parent_ids when it's not required" do
-      root = Node.create; child = Node.create; 
-      root.children << child
+      root = node(:root)
       root.should_not_receive(:rearrange_children)
       root.save
     end
@@ -78,87 +83,93 @@ class Node
   
   describe 'utility methods' do
     
-    let!(:root) { Node.create }
-    let!(:child) { root.children << n = Node.create; n }
-    let!(:other_child) { root.children << n = Node.create; n }
-    let!(:subchild) { child.children << n = Node.create; n }
+    before(:each) do
+      setup_tree <<-ENDTREE
+        root:
+          - child:
+            - subchild
+          - other_child
+      ENDTREE
+    end
     
     describe '.root?' do
       it "should return true for root documents" do
-        root.should be_root
+        node(:root).should be_root
       end
       
       it "should return false for non-root documents" do
-        child.should_not be_root
+        node(:child).should_not be_root
       end
     end
     
     describe '.leaf?' do
       it "should return true for leaf documents" do
-        subchild.should be_leaf
+        node(:subchild).should be_leaf
+        node(:other_child).should be_leaf
         Node.new.should be_leaf
       end
       
       it "should return false for non-leaf documents" do
-        child.should_not be_leaf
-        root.should_not be_leaf
+        node(:child).should_not be_leaf
+        node(:root).should_not be_leaf
       end
     end
     
     describe '.root' do
       it "should return the root for this document" do
-        subchild.root.should == root
+        node(:subchild).root.should == node(:root)
       end
     end
     
     describe 'ancestors' do
       it ".ancestors should return the documents ancestors" do
-        subchild.ancestors.to_a.should == [root, child]
+        node(:subchild).ancestors.to_a.should == [node(:root), node(:child)]
       end
     
       it ".ancestors_and_self should return the documents ancestors and itself" do
-        subchild.ancestors_and_self.to_a.should == [root, child, subchild]
+        node(:subchild).ancestors_and_self.to_a.should == [node(:root), node(:child), node(:subchild)]
       end
       
       describe '.ancestor_of?' do
         it "should return true for ancestors" do
-          child.should be_ancestor_of(subchild)
+          node(:child).should be_ancestor_of(node(:subchild))
         end
         
         it "should return false for non-ancestors" do
-          other_child.should_not be_ancestor_of(subchild)
+          node(:other_child).should_not be_ancestor_of(node(:subchild))
         end
       end
     end
     
     describe 'descendants' do
       it ".descendants should return the documents descendants" do
-        root.descendants.to_a.should == [child, other_child, subchild]
+        node(:root).descendants.to_a.should =~ [node(:child), node(:other_child), node(:subchild)]
       end
     
       it ".descendants_and_self should return the documents descendants and itself" do
-        root.descendants_and_self.to_a.should == [root, child, other_child, subchild]
+        node(:root).descendants_and_self.to_a.should =~ [node(:root), node(:child), node(:other_child), node(:subchild)]
       end
       
       describe '.descendant_of?' do
         it "should return true for descendants" do
-          subchild.should be_descendant_of(child)
-          subchild.should be_descendant_of(root)
+          subchild = node(:subchild)
+          subchild.should be_descendant_of(node(:child))
+          subchild.should be_descendant_of(node(:root))
         end
         
         it "should return false for non-descendants" do
-          subchild.should_not be_descendant_of(other_child)
+          node(:subchild).should_not be_descendant_of(node(:other_child))
         end
       end
     end
 
     describe 'siblings' do
       it ".siblings should return the documents siblings" do
-        child.siblings.to_a.should == [other_child]
+        node(:child).siblings.to_a.should == [node(:other_child)]
       end
       
       it ".siblings_and_self should return the documents siblings and itself" do
-        child.siblings_and_self.to_a.should == [child, other_child]
+        node(:child).siblings_and_self.to_a.should == [node(:child), node(:other_child)]
       end
     end
     
diff --git a/spec/spec_helper.rb b/spec/spec_helper.rb
index 8ade456..9fe9bb8 100644
--- a/spec/spec_helper.rb
+++ b/spec/spec_helper.rb
@@ -6,16 +6,16 @@
 
 require 'rspec'
 
-Dir['#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/support/**/*.rb'].each { |f| require f }
+Mongoid.configure do |config|
+  config.master = Mongo::Connection.new.db('mongoid_tree_test')
+  config.allow_dynamic_fields = false
+end
+
+Dir["#{File.dirname(__FILE__)}/support/**/*.rb"].each { |f| require f }
 
 RSpec.configure do |config|
   config.mock_with :rspec
   config.after :each do
     Mongoid.master.collections.reject { |c| c.name =~ /^system\./ }.each(&:drop)
   end
-end
-
-Mongoid.configure do |config|
-  config.master = Mongo::Connection.new.db('mongoid_tree_test')
-  config.allow_dynamic_fields = false
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/support/macros/tree_macros.rb b/spec/support/macros/tree_macros.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..150442f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/support/macros/tree_macros.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+require 'yaml'
+
+module Mongoid::Tree::TreeMacros
+  
+  def setup_tree(tree)
+    create_tree(YAML.load(tree))
+  end
+  
+  def node(name) 
+    @nodes[name].reload
+  end
+  
+  def print_tree(node, print_ids = false, depth = 0)
+    print '  ' * depth
+    print '- ' unless depth == 0
+    print node.name
+    print " (#{node.id})" if print_ids
+    print ':' if node.children.any?
+    print "\n"
+    node.children.each { |c| print_tree(c, print_ids, depth + 1) }
+  end
+  
+  private 
+  
+  def create_tree(object)
+    case object
+      when String: return create_node(object)
+      when Array: object.each { |tree| create_tree(tree) }
+      when Hash: 
+        name, children = object.first
+        node = create_node(name)
+        children.each { |c| node.children << create_tree(c) }
+        return node
+    end
+  end
+  
+  def create_node(name)
+    @nodes ||= HashWithIndifferentAccess.new
+    @nodes[name] = Node.create(:name => name)
+  end
+  
+end
+
+RSpec.configure do |config|
+  config.include Mongoid::Tree::TreeMacros
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/spec/support/models/node.rb b/spec/support/models/node.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bad96c3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/support/models/node.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+class Node
+  include Mongoid::Document
+  include Mongoid::Tree
+  
+  field :name
+end
+