I personally wouldn't have marble countertop in the kitchen especially given your situation.

No it's not crazy, but you should be okay with them developing a patina. Any acidic food that hits or sits on the counter is going to dull (etch) the counter. lemon, pineapple, vinegar, salad dressing, tomatoe sauce. You will seal the counter ( takes 15 minutes) every 6 months. But this does not protect the counter from etching, only staining. I always tell customers to get a Honed finish. The polish will show every scratch. So if u like go get a tile sample of honed marble and leave some foods on it. I'd go for it. You may need them to be restored every couple of years, will cost about $500. But if you like counters to look perfect, you may want to consider a quartz man made surface.

I wouldn't do it either.

For the reasons you mentioned I chose a solid quartz for counter and marble for my backsplash. You still get the beauty of marble in your kitchen without as much worry about staining. I prop a Cookie sheet up behind the stove when cooking Something messy.

Yes, it's crazy unless you are totally Zen with stains and deglossed areas and can watch your guest carelessly slop his/her red wine onto your counter and just go on chattering.

Marble was used historically because it was the best, most practical solution they had at the time. If people in the eighteenth century had had access to engineered stone (aka "quartz"), that's what they would have used instead of marble.

But, why not try it? Ask your stone yard to sell you a small offcut of marble and put it on your counter. Every time you go into the kitchen, flick a blob of whatever you're eating/cooking/drinking onto the marble. Salad dressing, peanut butter, jam, lemon juice, oil, wine, grease.....

Whenever you thoroughly clean your kitchen counters, you can also clean the marble. But no extra sneak cleaning. I would allow for a 1 month trial period, although I think you'll actually have your answer in 48 hours or less.

I agree look at the quartz products. They have come a long way in looks from a few years ago. Marble is beautiful but has so many short comings that it is impractical for a family with small children.