Do you use a tablecloth? Just wipe up with a damp cloth?

We have a pretty nice wooden ktichen table that we purchased from Ethan Allen a couple of years ago. It's a distressed farmhouse look, so I thought we'd be fine with the kids. Well, it does have a finish on it, and I'm finding the finish gets really cloudy when I have to wash the inevitable kids' food and fingerprints that stray from their placemats. Also, we had friends over this week and one of the guests wrote on my table with a green marker and it is not coming off! Eventually I want to have it refinished and order a glass top so that I can clean up more easily and protect the table. In the meantime, I need to come up with a new system...

TIA!
tmarie