diff --git a/escher/include/escher/view.h b/escher/include/escher/view.h
index ca625eede..576b2711a 100644
--- a/escher/include/escher/view.h
+++ b/escher/include/escher/view.h
@@ -54,12 +54,12 @@ protected:
   virtual View * subview(int index) = 0;
   virtual void storeSubviewAtIndex(View * v, int index) = 0;
   virtual void layoutSubviews() = 0;
+  View * m_superview;
   KDRect m_frame;
 private:
   void redraw(KDRect rect);
   KDRect absoluteDrawingArea() const;
 
-  View * m_superview;
   bool m_needsRedraw;
   //TODO: We may want a dynamic size at some point
   /*
diff --git a/escher/src/view.cpp b/escher/src/view.cpp
index 59d3fcd8f..dac345005 100644
--- a/escher/src/view.cpp
+++ b/escher/src/view.cpp
@@ -162,6 +162,7 @@ std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, View &view) {
   view.logAttributes(os);
   os << ">";
   for (int i=0; i<view.numberOfSubviews(); i++) {
+    assert(view.subview(i)->m_superview == &view);
     os << *view.subview(i);
   }
   os << "</" << view.className() << ">";