Wife Upgrades Husband to Plane Seat Away from Kids (Exclusive)

• Due to his busy work schedule, Tracy Caliendo's husband wasn't able to fully partake in their family vacation
• On their flight home, she upgraded his seat to the front of the plane, away from their kids
• The mom spoke to PEOPLE about why she treated her husband to the upgrade and addressed some of the backlash claiming her "sacrifice" was unfair

After sitting out of the fun on a family vacation, this lucky father of five got to sit back and relax during their flight back home.

Tracy Caliendo and her husband, Pete, took their seven-person brood down to Florida for their kids’ winter break, but Pete didn’t spend much time in the southern sunshine. Unlike his wife, the finance professional wasn’t able to take a week off work, and he spent most of the getaway working from a hotel room.

On their way home to New York City, Tracy surprised her hard-working husband by upgrading his plane ticket to a solo seat up front. As she ushered her kids toward the back of the cabin, the family-focused content creator filmed Pete greeting his wife, two sons and three daughters as they passed by his seat.

Tracy posted the footage on TikTok, sharing the context with her followers: “My hubby worked while we had an amazing vacation, so I surprised him with a ticket away from the kids to get his relaxation time,” she wrote alongside the now-viral post. 

“We both make sacrifices,” Tracy added in the caption. 

In the video — which has over 3 million views and 140,000 likes on the app — Pete made playful remarks about his luxurious plane placement. He shared a laugh with his wife as he told her, “If you need bread and water, just stay back there.”

Pete high-fived and kissed his 6-year-old daughters Harlow, Piper and Presley when they shuffled by him in the aisle. “I hope you’re okay back there,” he joked with one of the girls, whom Tracy and Pete call their “almost triplets.” 

(In 2019, Tracy opened up to PEOPLE about how they conceived Harlow through IVF, then welcomed Piper and Presley via surrogate within the span of 13 months.)

Many TikTok users shared their appreciation for Tracy’s gesture. “That’s so cute and thoughtful! I love the humor too!” one viewer commented. Another person agreed, “This is a true marriage.”

Others, however, questioned the busy mom’s generosity, wondering why she gave her husband a “break” but didn't cut herself some slack as well. 

Speaking to PEOPLE, Tracy insists that any negative responses fail to consider the video’s circumstances.

“Some of the comments are, ‘The mom worked hard too. Why is he just the only one being rewarded?’ That's not what was going on,” she tells PEOPLE. “We're a family of seven. We have four little kids. Both my husband and I work full time, but I had the week off, he did not, but we still went away.”

Tracy, who also works in finance, notes how her husband has to be on during market hours, meaning the period between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m when the stock market is open. So when she and their five kids were basking in warm weather and splashing in the swimming pool, Pete was stuck inside “trading the markets,” his wife explains.

She continues, "That was a sacrifice that he made because the kids were off, I was off, and we still wanted to go away."

The surprise plane seat upgrade served as more than just an opportunity for Pete to recoup after a tough week. Tracy tells PEOPLE he was “basically giddy” to fly with an extra level of calm and comfort.

“Our kids are very well-behaved, but you never know with kids on a plane. My husband always jokes, ‘How about I'm up at first class, and you guys — good luck.’ So basically his joke came to fruition,” she says, adding, “He was thrilled.”

Furthermore, Tracy maintains her post-vacation sacrifice wasn’t as taxing as some seem to believe. Their eldest son, 17-year-old Hunter, stepped up to help Mom in the back of the plane while Pete relaxed some seats ahead.

Though some disapproving comments tried to point out an imbalance between Tracy and Pete, the TikToker doesn’t think such scrutiny applies to their partnership.

“Yes, we divide and conquer. Together we're stronger as a team. But sometimes one has to step a little bit away just to take a deep breath,” Tracy tells PEOPLE. “I think we're super sensitive about that.”

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