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Chatting with her mommy friends at the local playground in DUMBO, Carrie Dutcher can’t help but feel a little anxious about the topic.
The group is discussing summer camp — and all of the kids except her 5-year-old daughter, Fredricka, appear to have their plans squared away.
Some kids are going to Carmelo the Science Fellow, an outrageously popular “weird science” class in Gowanus, which is almost entirely booked for the eight weeks of the school vacation. Others are headed to one of the already oversubscribed “Week of Wildlife” courses at Prospect Park Zoo.
“It’s kind of stressful,” admits Dutcher, a designer and stay-at-home mom, who also has a 1-year-old son, Archer. “I’m sure I will find the one that everybody else has decided is going to be great — and there will be no more space.”
Despite her best efforts, the 38-year-old is checking into Camp Panic — the frazzled state-of-mind occupied by many a middle-class New Yorker who fears their child will be locked out of a program this summer. Wait lists are not uncommon, and some parents are even consulting specialist advisers to help them find places.
This year, programs, such as Curious Jane and the Washington Heights-based Storefront Science, are reporting a 30 percent increase in early-bird sales as parents compete for places.
As far back as January, in scenes reminiscent of a Black Friday sale frenzy, shivering moms and dads lined up at 4 a.m. to register their offspring for science-camp Carmelo, which has a first-come, first-served policy.
“It’s fairly frustrating, like everything in New York,” observes Park Slope writer Stephanie Thompson, 42, who blogs at goldstar4trying.com and pens the “Fearless Parenting” column in the Brooklyn Paper.
“I always make fun of people who sign up for things early, but then everyone stresses me out so much that I end up becoming one of them. It’s the cultural norm [as] a parent in New York.”
Lauren, 33, another Park Sloper, who asked The Post not to publish her last name for professional reasons, is embarrassed to admit she was distraught when she learned she’d missed the boat for one of the coveted 192 spots for the girls-only Curious Jane Jr. (aimed at younger girls) held at Berkeley Carroll School. She applied in late January and had to be content with her 5-year-old being put on the wait list.
“How silly of me to think that I could sign up in the early spring when you need to commit to a camp in November?” she says.
The crop of consultants that has sprung up, such as campexperts.com and kidklass.com, advises parents how to navigate the waters.
Dutcher recently enlisted the help of KidKlass founder Havona Madama, a Brooklyn mom who keeps prospective campers abreast of registration dates, deadlines and wait lists.
“I try to remind people there are a lot of great programs and sometimes the most popular or crowded might not be the best for your child,” says Madama.
That’s not enough to assuage the jitters of Beatrice Entrena, 40, a hotel manager from Washington Heights, who leapt on a place for her daughter, Zelda, 4, at Book Nook on the Upper West Side.
The $1,550 three-day per week, half-day program, which takes kids on a virtual tour around the globe and teaches them words in six different languages, sold out all classes, except for 2- and 3-year-olds, earlier this month.
“It looks like a really fantastic camp, but there’s really only one reason for booking so soon,” sighs Entrena. “Others may take your spot!”
Even parents who’ve secured slots for their children find themselves stressing out.
Thompson reserves places for her sons, Eli, 12, and Oscar, 9, at their favorite sleepaway camp, Hi-Rock, near Great Barrington, Mass., a whole year in advance — but she still battles occasional doubts.
“Every now and again I go: ‘Wait, I hear this other camp is better because it has such and such going on,’ ” says Thompson.
“And the boys say: ‘Mom, we love our camp!’
“It makes me realize that it doesn’t have to be the be-all and end-all to brag to everyone you know that your kids have these wild adventures all summer.”
jridley@nypost.com
Five of the most popular DAY camps in NYC and beyond
➧ Camp YomI
Kids get bused from Manhattan to this Rockland County camp with an adventure bent; 92y.org.
➧ Gate Hill Day Camp
This rural retreat, also in Rockland County, is a mecca for outdoorsy types; gatehilldaycamp.com.
➧ Curious Jane
This design and technology day camp for girls already has a wait list for some of its locations, run out of five Manhattan and Brooklyn private schools; curiousjanecamp.com.
➧ Pierce Country Day CAMP
An upscale camp based in Roslyn, LI, it covers the gamut from music and theater to swimming and athletics; piercecamps.com.
➧ The Brooklyn Robot Foundry
Kids spend their time building (yep, you guessed it) robots from circuits; the program filled nearly half of its slots within a week of launching online registration; brooklyn-robotfoundry.com.