SUMMIT, Wash. -- A Pierce County mother of three has been charged with leaving two children alone in a half-filled bathtub while she went to go buy beer, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.

Police said the children, ages 1 and 3 years old, were left alone in the bathtub while their mother drove to a convenience store a few miles away to buy some beer.

"Well, they were home long enough for her to get in a car and drive up to the store and buy beer and drive back home. That's long enough," said Pierce County sheriff's Detective Ed Troyer.

The children were found by their father who returned to their home in Summit from an errand to find his wife pulling into the driveway with a beer in her hand, authorities said.

The man called sheriff's deputies.

The mother, 32-year-old Nicole Erdman, was arrested and charged with two counts of second-degree child abandonment.

According to probable cause documents, Erdman confessed to leaving her children in a tub with five inches of water in it.

Documents said that Erdman put the 1 and 3 year old in the tub and then drove to a Circle K store, bought a 22-ounce can of beer and then drove home.

Erdman's husband, who declined to appear on camera, told KIRO 7 reporter Kevin McCarty that Erdman is "a loving caring mother with some emotional and psychological problems and drug and alcohol issues -- and she's seeking help for those issues."

Investigators said it was a miracle that one or both of the children were not injured.

"We've had people leave their kids before, but never at this young age, let alone in a bathtub full of water. That is unbelievable, and it shocked our guys," said Troyer.

Erdman is prohibited from seeing any of her children while her case is under way. She was reportedly on a suicide watch while in the Pierce County Jail and has been ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Investigators said there were no indications of previous problems in the home.