Springfield becomes a winter wonderland after a freak accident involving the nuclear plant and The Springfield Tire Fire, and out-of-towners flock to whatever state Springfield is in to experience a white Christmas, but the sudden tourism causes prices to skyrocket and drives Marge to turn the Simpson house into a bed-and-breakfast.
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Homer places the Christmas decorations up before he takes down the Halloween decorations. Marge scolds Homer as he hangs a skeleton with a Santa Claus beard. Lisa and Bart lounge on the couch. Obviously bored, the Simpson kids are glued to the television, watching an episode of The Itchy and Scratchy Show. Meanwhile, Kent Brockman announces the plague of global warming in front of a “Sleetless in Seattle” headline. Two weeks before Christmas, a heatwave strikes Springfield as Marge places away the hats and mittens because of the warmth. When Homer goes to the backyard, he discovers that his hammock is filled with snow. Soon the kids find out that snow has fallen upon them finally. In the town center, Professor Frink tries to explain the origin of the snow, while Mayor Quimby calls the town a tourist attraction for its snow. The town denizens are in the Christmas spirit with Mrs. Muntz on the stripper pole, Moe's Tavern turning into Santa's workshop, kids making snow angels. When Marge goes to the Kwik-E-Mart, she's overwhelmed with the parking and the shopping. Everywhere she goes, Marge is reminded of how she can't afford Christmas. She feels like a failure.
Then, a family drives by Marge as she's about to enter her home. The patriarch of the family offers Marge $300 to spend the night at the Simpson household because there's no place else to go. Marge seems hesitant. Nevertheless, Homer discovers a family in the living room. At first, Homer thinks Marge has remarried after his passing, but then he realizes he's not dead. Marge tells Homer that these are their new boarders. Homer doesn't like the idea of sharing the room other than with Marge. Homer doesn't like the idea of sharing the room other than with Marge. Marge hands him a pamphlet of the Simpsons' Bed and Breakfast and asks Homer, “What would baby Jesus do?” in this situation. Homer automatically thinks of baby Jesus in various business management scenarios before supporting Marge's impulsive scheme.
While Bart and Homer take to their impromptu hotel management roles, Marge gets increasingly annoyed by the tourist requests and becomes short-tempered towards them. Her Christmas issues find a parallel in Lisa's plan to buy her family gifts that all have more to do with feeling good about herself than buying the presents they will actually like; her choice of a present for Bart, a book, leads him to confront her with this and she admits it is true. She later sells the gift Bart got her and gets him a tablet, preloaded with e-books as well as games/apps. As a thank you, and because she had to sell the gift he initially gave her, Bart gives her the money he made working as a bellboy while housing the tourists, telling Lisa to donate it to whatever cause she wants. Marge is surprised when the tourists seem to be confronting her before leaving but sing a song of Christmas spirit and thanks. While she is touched by the gesture and wishes them safe travels, she remains ill at ease to the end with Christmas music, as she only prefers hearing the first verse of Christmas carols.