I just bought a new kitchen table with a satin lacquer finish. The list of "don'ts" that came with it is long and ridiculous for a family with kids. What can I do (other than cover it) to make it stand up to day to day use (i.e. resist scratching, water marks, etc.)?
Thanks for any help.

I can't remember the name of it, but there is a forum out there for wood turners and a lot of them make bowls you can eat out of. They are very handy with different finishes, since eating out it will cause a lot of wear and tear. I wish I could remember the name of the forum but I am sure you can search Google and find one.

There is a cover that you may have not thought about, because it would not "cover" the view of the table. You can have a 1/4" piece of glass made for the table with clear spacers that suspend the glass over the table.

A glass cover would certainly be an option and an excellent idea! Other than that, with kids, you are going to need to keep the surface area covered in some way. Pads, doilies, table cloths, place mats, etc. would be options.

If you don't really want to keep the surface area covered in some way, then every once in a while you could do what I call a rejuvenation finishing. And that would be to lightly sand, in the direction of the grain, the surface area of the table and then spray with a low-solids lacquer such as Deft and then rub-out with #0000 steel wool and a paste wax to rejuvenate the finish.

Clough might be able to say if this is correct or not, but I have used Polyurethene finish on lots of wood surfaces to give a more durable surface. It is available in several types of finishes such as high gloss, satin I believe and such as that. I give the surface several coats, letting them dry thoroughly between coats. With it being a new table you may want to chose another path to take.

I use Polycrylic over painted surfaces using water base paints such as acrylics or house paint, but over oil based stains and finishes, I use the Polyurethene.