You're the ultimate determiner of whether or not you can handle the difference between patina and patina. ;)

There are plenty of folks on this board who have marble and kids and are OK with the lived in look. Maybe take the opportunity to do some "training" on how to care for finer things? Take a sample and show them what happens when they don't take care of it and ask for their help in keeping their messes more under control. (Can't hurt to try, and it might help you in the rest of the house if you create some neatniks!)

I was scared to do marble with 3 teenagers after reading the disclaimers! But there are people here on the forum who love their marble and do not mind the patina. A Country Farm has 11 children and she chose marble. My only suggestion is if you go with the marble, embrace the patina. There would be nothing worse imho, than having 12 kids constantly worried that mom was going to be upset at the latest orange or grape juice spill.

Worldmom,
This is how I explain it to my customers that ask about marble in the kitchen.

It is more about you than the stone. When child number 6 or 7 makes koolaid in the afternoon and splashes a few spots of grape on the couter and "forgets" to wipe it up and you come in a few hours later and see the two or three purple spots in your counter. How will you react.

Is the counter RUINED! or is it just a reminder that you have a wonderful child that you love and is way more important than a marble counter looking pristine?

Now, the counter is not ruined, it is perfectly fine. It will continue to be there long after you are gone, and your children can talk of the time child #6 made Koolaid and left those spots and Mom was not mad.

Also, the koolaid spots can be removed with a poultice quite easily.

I have an old piece of marble on my island, (kitchen is not finished yet, but we use the island daily). The marble is white with lots of grey/green veins. I only have two DD, but I have a story similar to what vrjames was saying. I hadn't gotten a chance to seal the marble yet when my lovely DD spilled her grape juice on the island. I didn't see it for several hours and by the time I got it cleaned up, it stained a little. I have some poultice that I was going to use to take the stain out when I got a chance to get to it. Working full time and going to grad school it took a while, LOL. But wouldn't you know it after a couple days the stain just disappeared! I don't know where it went, but it's gone. Also when I first installed the marble (again before sealing) I rolled out pie dough and it left an oil stain. I immediately put corn starch on it and after about a week the stain was gone.

Now granted my marble is OLD (old in how long it's been used, all marble is old) and NOT pristine, but it certainly isn't that delicate either. Now that it's sealed it's even easier to take care of. Those little grape juice drips and rolling out dough doesn't stain now.

This would not be staining, it is moisture in the stone that evaporates out.

Oil in the stone, coffee and other staining agents will not disappear. simple moisture will.

James

I have marble on the island - honed calacatta. It etched in places almost immediately. It was sealed with Porous plus 511 at the fabricators and I did two additional coats after installation. So far no stains, I did notice some tomato sauce on the island left over night - wiped right up. I have two children and they know to be careful when working on the island. Recently the youngest had a friend over to visit. The following is a summary of their converstion.
"Be careful with your juice. You have to use a mat."
"why"
"My mom worries about the marble"
"why"
'it etches"
"what's that"
" I don't know. It's something you can see if you tip your head and look at the marble sideways. Actually, only my mom can see it"

Worldmom-

Between the wisdom of my good friends Live_Wire_Oak & VRJames -
there really isn't much else that I could or should add to their remarks...
IMHO - pretty much brilliant advice from both of my Industry Colleagues!!!!

Worldmom - have you looked at Danby Marble? It has many of the same
traits that you'll find in Carrara, but it is a domestic stone - It looks way cool
honed too... and let's not forget that historically speaking - (as far as I know)
Danby & Soapstone were two of the most popular stones used here in the US
when we were known (back in the day) as "the Colonies"... HA! if you are
going for a historically correct look from the 16, 17 or 1800's -
I think that a honed Danby or Carrara would be a perfect choice too!

I don't know though, I don't think that the colonists had Kool-Aide...
can you imagine if they did???

Then, historians would have written about the Boston "Kool-Aide" Party....

OK - I'll get back to work now - lunchtime is over!!!

kevin

LucyPWD I love that last post!

There is an underlying message in that post. If you have 12 children, your house will always have it's own kind of beautiful. Magazines may not beat down your door to photograph it, but we sometimes forget that LIVING in the house is the important part. If you have a large family, you may have already accepted the fact that part of the joy of living is being able to appreciate a certain amount of imperfection.
It is improbable that your family will be able to make your marble ugly, but they will keep it from being perfect. I've had two carrera dining tables for almost 20 years. They are imperfect, but they are still beautiful. Like my kids, I love them.

Thanks, everyone. I really appreciate the feedback. I keep deciding I'll throw caution to the wind and do the whole island, and then I decide, no, just the counter. Argh! That's pretty much how my mind functions with all of my kitchen choices these days. :oD

worldmom - We've been neck-deep in our kitchen remodel for almost a year now and I *still* have those moments.

Personally, I'd go for the marble on the island but then I love marble.

I have a lot of white (calacatta) marble countertops, but only two little children (four and two), so they're not the ones messing up the counters (that'd be their daddy and me!).

I just turned 39 (I mention this for perspective), and I remember being in junior high school (so I was like twelve or thirteen) and seeing a raspberry pink bijou (as in teeny-tiny) kitchen with white marble countertops. It became my dream. For 26 years, I dreamt of a kitchen with white marble countertops. Nothing, no slobby husband, no potentially messy kids, were going to stand in my way. (I gave up on the raspberry pink cabinets years ago, though. I realized that while I love raspberry in doses, it would just be too much in a kitchen of any size.)

I think you'd be better of with just your baking stretch of marble (and not the whole island). Every other marble person here I "know" (you know what I mean) is like me: it was going to be marble or nothing. We couldn't envision our kitchens without the marble, and nothing and no one was going to prevent it.

I would hate for you or anyone to have any material in their kitchen which leaves you holding you breath, as in holding your breath when your kids are in the kitchen to see if they're doing to ding / stain the countertop. I'd love for a material to take your breath away, but that's totally different!

A kitchen is supposed to be a workplace; I know many have made them showplaces (and those are the ones we tend to see in magazines, right?), but it's like having a living room with those plastic runners on the floors and plastic covers on the furniture. Then it's not a room for living, is it?

Going through a kitchen remodel is a wonderful thing, and you are so lucky to get to do it. I want you to enjoy your kitchen and I want you to be able to enjoy your kids enjoying the kitchen!

etching is caused from a chemical reaction "No sealer will prevent etching. Sealers actually penetrate the surface of the stone to prevent liquids from being absorbed. Etching is actually surface damage caused by a "chemical reaction" from an "acidic substance" that has been left on the marble. If the etching is not too deep, you can easily rectify it yourself using a marble polishing powder"

quotes:
"Sealers in the stone industry are called "impregnators", because they impregnate the interior of the stone with silicones and reject water and oil, *****but they will NOT prevent scratches or etching from acid spills on marble".******

Stone sealers are either
water based: or
petroleum based

Answer: clean up all splits always!
This kitchen was install this year. 511 impregnators was used on this kitchen in the phone : on marble at the request of the customer only!

Marble looked beautiful: reminded me of the look of fresh snow on the ground in the morning when the sun hits the snow!
~best wishes~
Happy Holidays!