I never fancied pan drawers, but moving here where there are some, I have accepted the idea works for pans. But I'm not keen on them for crockery as drawers have less overall space- though I take the point about kids.
Funny enough, I don't find them great for pots. I have 3 stacked in one drawer (lids elsewhere), but use the rest of the drawer for other things. I use those slightly-too-high cupboards for big pots. Sure, the space could fit more than 2 pots, but I would forget what was up there, never access it and most likely pull piles of stuff down on top of myself regularly. This way I use that space every day.
All our daily dinner plates, side plates, cereal bowls and pasta bowls fit in one pan drawer (approx 12 of each, maybe 20 side plates) - don't think I'd fit them so easily in a cupboard.
I use the super narrow cupboards that were here (that I would never have chosen to include in a kitchen as I thought they were useless) for the frying pans, pot lids, chopping boards and baking trays - so much easier to slide out the one you need.
Despite cursing this tiny and utterly stupid kitchen when I moved in here, I've actually come around to some of the units and will plan similar when we remodel next year. I guess my point is that it's worth trying some different arrangements to see if you can make the space work better for you.