I am restoring/salvaging my childhood rocking chair as a gift for my grandchildren. It is completely disassembled and I've sanded off all of the old paint down to bare hard maple and would like to repaint it. But I know little about paint except for the kind that you put on walls and that's not going to work here. I need something with gloss or semi-gloss finish that is HARD and will take the abuse of two active 3-yr old boys. Any advice on primer and paint from the experienced painters among you would be appreciated.  

I do not have spray equipment, so unless it comes in a spray can from the store, I'm probably excluded from most of the stuff you pros use.