my $max_children = 10; # max number of children 
my $num_children = 0; # number we have now

foreach $item (@items)
{
   if( my $p = fork() ) {

       if ($num_children >= $max_children)
       {
          $dead_child = wait;
          $num_children--;
       }
       $num_children++; # child count
   } else {
       #do some sort of child processing
       last; # We want out of the loop 
   }
}