This summer, there's a twist to summer camp anxiety – the parents and administrators have it.

Attendance at Dallas-area day camps is down slightly, with many parents enrolling their children on a week-to-week basis as job insecurity and tight household budgets are delaying financial decisions.

And while many of the bunks are occupied at residential camps farther away, some families are seeking to stretch out payments for their children's summer fun in the sun.

"Everybody is feeling the pinch," said Dick Eastland, president of Camp Mystic for Girls in Hunt, Texas. Eastland said he will have a better gauge of business Friday, when parents arrive at the end of the first session. That is normally when they sign up their kids for the next year.

"Last year, we had over a 90 percent sign-up rate," Eastland said. "Hopefully we'll get the same return. We'll see."

Camp Mystic enrollment was down two out of the just over 300 girls for the first session, and up slightly for the second and third terms.

Eastland said many neighboring camps along the Guadalupe River in the Texas Hill Country are adjusting to the economy as well.

"We're all helping our families the best we can, if they need a little more time and things like that," Eastland said.

Another obstacle for camp attendance this season has been reports of the swine flu, as cases have been reported at scouting, religious and other camps across the country.

Some camps have had to shut down, delay openings or treat campers with antiviral drugs.

But Danielle Shaw, executive director of the American Camp Association for Texas and Oklahoma, said the flu has largely been a nonissue.

"There's actually been more press about it than incidents of confirmed cases, but there have been a few," she said.

"There was a camp that closed for the seven-day period – just to make sure – and then those kids were just filtered into a later session."

Many families are clearly living paycheck to paycheck and paying for day camp one session at a time.

"Where in the past, families have registered well in advance for camp, this summer we're seeing large numbers of families come in on the first day of the camp and register their kids," said Gail Vessels, vice president of program development and management for the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas.

While day camp attendance is down slightly, some YMCA centers have 50 parents lined up for weekly registration, Vessels said.

"We're thinking families are feeling a little insecure and not wanting to put money upfront and not wanting to spend their money until they absolutely have to," she added.

Dallas YMCA offers one- and two-week sessions during the 11-week season, with registration on Mondays. The Dallas YMCA manages day camps from Frisco to Waxahachie, with fees ranging from $100 to $200 per week, depending on the activities included and the location.

The YMCA does offer some scholarships. Advance registration requires a $25 deposit, which some parents may not have.

"We try and make it so that everyone who needs to be in day camp can be there," Vessels said.

Whether campers are headed to day camp in the city or a longer stay in the country, parents are procrastinating, Shaw said.

"What we are seeing across the board is later registrations, where families are waiting a little bit longer to make the decision," she said.

Attendance is down about 15 percent at residential camps across the nation – especially at for-profit camps with a longer session – while traffic is up at shorter-stay camps operated by nonprofit organizations, Shaw said.

The parents' worries translate into camp-management hassles.

"It makes it really difficult for us to have the right staffing ratios," Vessels said. "It means a lot of scurrying around at the last minute sometimes, trying to find additional staff. Or, if we staff up – predicting large numbers, and they don't come – we have to let some staff go home."

Tradition is sustaining some, including Camp Longhorn, about 60 miles northwest of Austin, said general manager John Robertson. The same families continue to come back.

"We've been here so long, we've seen this several times before," Robertson said. "What we see is a reduction in the number of new families."

Camp Longhorn is into its fourth generation of campers.

"Those have remained strong, so we're able to remain full," he said.