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Well, C only has one set of grandparents as my DH's parents both passed away before I got pregnant... so overbearing.

My parents are very involved, babysit all the time, and bought a house 5 blocks from us. They were the kind of parents that came to every school event, concert, play, etc when I was a kid, and they're already doing that with C too. My mom borderlines overbearing sometimes, but mostly they are pretty chill.

Hmm it depends. Overbearing is preferable assuming they respect your decisions. If they don't, then forget it I'll take hands off.

My inlaws are overbearing by your description. In fact, they're a little more intense than your example - they have a key to our house and pop over when we are out to *help with something*. I come home to dishes in my sink. My MIL tried to call us three times in an hr a few Saturdays ago and, when she couldn't get us (we were out having breakfast), she decided we had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, turned up at the house and then started knocking neighbours doors to see if anyone had seen us. We have to keep them in the loop with every tiny thing we do. Its really suffocating. But the trade off is they're always there to help and they genuinely care about us and E.

My mum is much worse than your example, in that she wont babysit at all, but its really the disinterest that bothers me. She likes to have pictures of her granddaughter smiling, but doesn't want much to do with the reality.

Id pick the overbearing ones in a heartbeat.

@alphagam84: exactly, I would be much more inclined to send my MIL pictures and stuff if she wasn't so obsessed. I know that sending her pictures will just open a whole new can of worms for me.
We have an agreement - I send my fam pictures and my husband is responsible for sending his fam pictures. That way I (mostly) don't have to deal with them asking all kinds of questions and requesting pics anymore. I got so sick of it.

Hands off all the way. I've always been independent and private, so that works best for my personality.

My inlaws are here. Again, I confirm, hands off.
They are constantly in his face and pulling him in for a hug and he is squirming and I just can't even.

I'm pretty sure I would choose overbearing! I *think* we'll have a set of each... So far, my mother has been very hands-on and helpful, and she's good about not giving advice unless I ask. DH's parents, on the other hand, are very hands-off and always have been. It's really stressful for him that they'd rather not be involved, and there have even been a few times recently that they've said very hurtful things to him (the latest was "we're not rearranging our lives or schedule for you" when asking if they'd like to stop by and see the nursery). I guess we'll see if things change in May when baby girl arrives!

Hands off! Stay out of my business!

Overbearing. I want my kids to love they're grandparents the way I loved mine and that means time with them without us.

I voted overbearing, as much as it hurts. My ILs are the definition of overbearing. Prime example: when my DS was 4 months old we visited my ILs, SIL, and BIL the weekend following the first week that DS was in daycare (i.e. it had been a hard week for me). My FIL said multiple times that I was not allowed to hold my DS because I saw him all the time. It makes my blood boil just thinking about it. However, my DS loves spending time with them and I know they will be very loving grandparents. My parents are not in either category, they respect us being our own family, but also love DS to pieces and love spending time with him. I'm more inclined to send pictures, invite them to visit, etc. because they don't give us guilt trips like ILs do.