diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/DragDropSidebar.tsx b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/DragDropSidebar.tsx
index e02f81a..cf20e0a 100644
--- a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/DragDropSidebar.tsx
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/components/DragDropSidebar.tsx
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 import { useDraggable } from '@neodrag/react';
 import { useReactFlow, type XYPosition } from '@xyflow/react';
 import { type ReactNode, useCallback, useRef, useState } from 'react';
-import useFlowStore from '../VisProgStores';
 import styles from '../../VisProg.module.css';
 import { NodeDefaults, type NodeTypes } from '../NodeRegistry'
+import addNode from '../utils/AddNode';
 
 /**
  * DraggableNodeProps dictates the type properties of a DraggableNode
@@ -47,41 +47,6 @@ function DraggableNode({ className, children, nodeType, onDrop }: DraggableNodeP
   );
 }
 
-/**
- * addNode — adds a new node to the flow using the unified class-based system.
- * Keeps numbering logic for phase/norm nodes.
- */
-function addNode(nodeType: keyof typeof NodeTypes, position: XYPosition) {
-  const { nodes, setNodes } = useFlowStore.getState();
-
-  // Find out if there's any default data about our ndoe
-  const defaultData = NodeDefaults[nodeType] ?? {}
-
-  // Currently, we find out what the Id is by checking the last node and adding one
-  const sameTypeNodes = nodes.filter((node) => node.type === nodeType);
-  const nextNumber =
-    sameTypeNodes.length > 0
-      ? (() => {
-          const lastNode = sameTypeNodes[sameTypeNodes.length - 1];
-          const parts = lastNode.id.split('-');
-          const lastNum = Number(parts[1]);
-          return Number.isNaN(lastNum) ? sameTypeNodes.length + 1 : lastNum + 1;
-        })()
-      : 1;
-  const id = `${nodeType}-${nextNumber}`;
-  
-  // Create new node
-  const newNode = {
-    id: id,
-    type: nodeType,
-    position,
-    // Deep copy using JSON because thats how things work:
-    // Ref: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Deep_copy
-    data: structuredClone(defaultData)
-  }
-  setNodes([...nodes, newNode]);
-}
-
 /**
  * DndToolbar defines how the drag and drop toolbar component works
  * and includes the default onDrop behavior.
diff --git a/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/utils/AddNode.ts b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/utils/AddNode.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b73d46b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/utils/AddNode.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+import type { XYPosition } from "@xyflow/react";
+import { NodeDefaults, type NodeTypes } from "../NodeRegistry";
+import useFlowStore from "../VisProgStores";
+
+
+/**
+ * addNode — adds a new node to the flow using the unified class-based system.
+ * Keeps numbering logic for phase/norm nodes.
+ */
+export default function addNode(nodeType: keyof typeof NodeTypes, position: XYPosition) {
+  const { nodes, setNodes } = useFlowStore.getState();
+
+  // Find out if there's any default data about our ndoe
+  const defaultData = NodeDefaults[nodeType] ?? {}
+
+  // Currently, we find out what the Id is by checking the last node and adding one
+  const sameTypeNodes = nodes.filter((node) => node.type === nodeType);
+  const nextNumber =
+    sameTypeNodes.length > 0
+      ? (() => {
+          const lastNode = sameTypeNodes[sameTypeNodes.length - 1];
+          const parts = lastNode.id.split('-');
+          const lastNum = Number(parts[1]);
+          return Number.isNaN(lastNum) ? sameTypeNodes.length + 1 : lastNum + 1;
+        })()
+      : 1;
+  const id = `${nodeType}-${nextNumber}`;
+  
+  // Create new node
+  const newNode = {
+    id: id,
+    type: nodeType,
+    position,
+    // Deep copy using JSON because thats how things work:
+    // Ref: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Glossary/Deep_copy
+    data: JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(defaultData))
+  }
+  setNodes([...nodes, newNode]);
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/PhaseNode.test.tsx b/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/PhaseNode.test.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b37c23a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/PhaseNode.test.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import { resetFlowStore } from "../../../../test-utils/test-utils";
+import useFlowStore from '../../../../../src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/VisProgStores';
+import addNode from "../../../../../src/pages/VisProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/utils/AddNode";
+
+
+describe('PhaseNode', () => {
+  beforeEach(() => resetFlowStore());
+
+  it('each created phase gets its own children array (store-level)', () => {
+    addNode("phase", {x:10,y:10})
+    addNode("phase", {x:20,y:20})
+
+    const nodes = useFlowStore.getState().nodes;
+    const p1 = nodes.find((x) => x.id === 'phase-1')!;
+    const p2 = nodes.find((x) => x.id === 'phase-2')!;
+
+    // not the same reference
+    expect(p1.data.children).not.toBe(p2.data.children);
+    // but same initial value
+    expect(p1.data.children).toEqual(p2.data.children);
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/UniversalNodes.test.tsx b/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/UniversalNodes.test.tsx
index 1119860..182ff53 100644
--- a/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/UniversalNodes.test.tsx
+++ b/test/pages/visProgPage/visualProgrammingUI/nodes/UniversalNodes.test.tsx
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ describe('NormNode', () => {
   });
 
   function createNode(id: string, type: string, position: XYPosition, data: Record<string, unknown>, deletable?: boolean) {
-    const defaultData = NodeDefaults[type as keyof typeof NodeDefaults]
+    const defaultData = JSON.parse(JSON.stringify(NodeDefaults[type as keyof typeof NodeDefaults]))
     const newData = {
         id: id,
         type: type,