use strict;
use warnings;
use feature qw( say );

use XML::Smart qw( );

my $doc = XML::Smart->new(<<'__EOI__');
<root>
   <node>
     a
     <foo/>
     b
     <bar/>
     c
  </node>
</root>
__EOI__

my @children = $doc->{root}{node}[0]('@');
say @children == 5 ? "ok" : "XXX";