Preventing cat from jumping on counters

When we were growing up, I don't recall having any cats who were constantly on the countertops and table. Maybe children just don't notice such things the way Nasty Neat moms do. When my daughter's cat, Tyler, joined our household last fall, he hardly ever jumped up on the counters either. We adopted sibling kittens in April, and these two are *still* all over the counters every time I look. Spraying them with water, shaking a noisy can full of pennies at them, putting sticky tape on the surfaces

Cheryl

A couple of friends of ours discovered that their cat doesn't like the smell of onion, so they rub an onion just a bit where they don't want the kitty to go.... It's a slightly smelly proposition, I guess, but I thought I'd throw it out here. I don't have any specifics, like how much smell it creates or how often they reapply, but can get those if anyone is interested.

Regenia